Raging Star by Moira Young

When the star reader, Auriel Tai, challenged Saba to seize her destiny and defeat DeMalo and the Tonton, Saba was so confident in her purpose. Then she met DeMalo and he confounded all expectations with his seductive vision of a healed earth, a New Eden. DeMalo and Saba had an intense and passionate encounter - physical, emotional and psychic - that changed her life, and now he wants Saba to join him, in life and work, to create and build a healthy, stable, sustainable world…for the chosen few.

Jack’s choice is clear: to fight DeMalo and try to stop his dangerous New Eden project. Still uncertain, her connection with DeMalo a secret, Saba commits herself to the fight. Joined by her brother Lugh, anxious for the land in New Eden, Saba leads an inexperienced guerilla band against the powerfully charismatic DeMalo, in command of his settlers and the Tonton militia.

What chance do they have? Saba must act. And be willing to pay the price.

This is it, the final book in the Dustlands trilogy, Saba's last stand against DeMalo and his twisted vision of the future. And while I had forgotten how long it takes me to read Saba's awful English, I just adore her story and the final stages of it did not disappoint. There were just as many twists and turns as I've come to expect from Saba's journey, not to mention troubles, this time the main one being that DeMalo has given her a deadline for their endgame: a week. 

So yeah, DeMalo was a pretentious jerk and just as annoying as I remember him being. There was also another moment when I wanted to smack Saba for not seeing through his stuck-up nature but that was early in the book and Saba learned from that. Thank goodness. DeMalo is so sure of his perfect future that he doesn't see what Saba does, that it is built upon basic faults: the lack of relationship. So Saba has just a few days to try and undermine DeMalo's ruling. Things heat up and lose control fast, and Saba and her little gang struggle to make a dent in DeMalo's so-called perfect world structure. But of course Saba wouldn't be the Angel of Death if she just gave up and she had a moment of pure genius with her fault lines idea that I just wanted to hug her.  

Enough about DeMalo, let's get to Jack. He actually managed to annoy me a bit in this book. I have loved him from the start but his complete lack of faith in Saba, as well as this whole passive-aggressive thing that made no sense, had me wanting to smack him. The lack of his appearance didn't help much either, but as most everyone thinks he is dead, obviously Jack is laying low. But he plays his part, sending information to Saba about Tonton movements and plans, as well as heading up another gang of anti-DeMalo fighters to help Saba with her new plan.

And finally, the big finale. God, the ending had me breathless. It contained so many twists in just a few pages that I was nearly knocked sideways and was definitely sure that Saba's triumph was unlikely. But of course, Saba has it (mostly) under control and nothing is as perfect as it seems. Just be wary that I was close to tears in the ending, plus pretty deflated at the prospect of an unhappy ending. Young cut it damn close and of course it won't be perfect but there is hope for a brighter future. 

Published 1st May 2014 by Marion Lloyd Books.